1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to mechanisms for holding surface contact cards of portable electronic devices and, particularly, to a latching mechanism for holding a SIM card in a portable electronic device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the development of wireless communication and information processing technologies, portable electronic devices such as mobile phones are now in widespread use. These electronic devices enable consumers to enjoy the convenience of high-tech services anytime and anywhere. Surface contact cards such as subscriber identity module card (SIM), compact flash card (CF) and multimedia card (MMC) having special circuits are widely used in probable electronic devices to enhance or specialize the functions of the portable electronic devices. For example, a subscriber identity module card (SIM) is placed in a mobile phone to dedicate the mobile phone functions to the SIM card owner. By changing SIM cards, a single mobile phone can be used by many different SIM card owners as a personal phone.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional mechanism for holding a SIM card includes a base 32 made of insulating material and a latching structure 34. The base 32 defines a receiving groove 321 and a SIM connector 30 comprising a plurality of contacts is set in the middle of the receiving groove 321. The size of the receiving groove 321 is the same as that of a SIM card. The latching structure 34 is located adjacent to one end of the receiving groove 321, and can be moved back and forth along the direction as indicated by the arrow shown in FIG. 1.
In use, firstly, the latching structure 34 is moved away from the receiving groove 321 and the SIM card is received in the receiving groove 321. Then, the latching structure 34 is moved adjacent to the receiving groove 321 for latching the SIM card in the receiving groove 321. In the same way, the SIM card can be released by moving the latching structure 34 away from the receiving groove 321.
In the above conventional mechanism for holding a SIM card, the latching structure 34 can be easily moved. If a mobile phone employing such a mechanism for holding a SIM card drops to ground, a shock will easily force the latching structure 34 to move off the receiving groove 321. As a result, the SIM card will not connect well with the SIM contactor 30 or even be released from the receiving groove 321. Obviously, such a conventional mechanism can not hold the SIM card steadily in the receiving groove 321.
Therefore, there is a need for a new latching mechanism for a SIM card, which can hold a SIM card steadily in a portable electronic device.